After the War
by Tenshi Namikaze
Summary: The war was finally over, all of the bloodshed, all of the tears and anger was over. Now as people awaken from their induced slumber, answers can finally be given.


Consciousness alluded her, as she tried to gain back her bearings. The last thing she knew she was in the arms of her love at the top of the Hokage Monument, watching with a light heart as he leaned in to give her their first kiss. She had been waiting for that for as long as she knew, and it was about to finally happen. After all this time, she would finally have her dream

Now all she was feeling was a crippling weakness in her body, so much so that it would take a major effort to even move her head to look around. Her hearing had not completely come back, as all she could hear sounded like a garbled mess. She could not find the strength to open her eyes, as her mind started to catch up with her situation. For the moment she decided to figure out what she was currently hearing

"_ke.._p…H_ata…p_ase…" A voice sounded out.

She laid there on a bed, which she had just realized she was on, and she felt that it was soft beneath her, and she could also slightly tell that it smelled sterile, leader her to believe she was in a hospital. More and more of her senses came back as her mind slowly came out of unconsciousness. She still felt her crippling weakness, her lips felt dry and cracked, and she felt like she hadn't eaten in days.

"H_nata.." She heard the mystery voice speak out again.

Who was talking to her, what had happened to her where she had gone from almost kissing her love to feeling practically dead in a hospital with someone speaking out her name? As her mind gradually returned, she heard and understood more of what was being said to her.

"Com_..on…Hinata…wake…" The voice now sounded familiar to her, as she could point out that voice of her love from anything.

He was asking, more like pleading from the tone of his voice, for her to wake up. Had she ended up fainting when he had tried to kiss her? That couldn't be possible since she felt so comfortable with him knowing that he had answered her love for him with his love for her.

"Naruto…kun?" She weakly replied, straining to even speak.

Her answer was not something she expected, as she started to feel rain like drops fall upon her face.

"You're alive" Her love choked out.

Confusion was the primary emotion she was currently feeling, why was her love saying that she was alive with what sounded like extreme relief in his voice? Deciding to finally figure it out she gathered her strength and tried to open her eyes, which felt like a chore to do in and of itself. She saw a blinding light as she slowly opened her eyes, which made her close them again in pain. She tried again, still feeling those rain like drops landing gently on her face and running down her cheeks.

The world gradually came back into focus as she opened her eyes, and she sight she beheld before her would be forever burned into her memory.

Her love Naruto Uzumaki was above her, his left eye covered by bloody bandages, and tears falling from both eyes, soaking the bandages and mixing with the blood in it. She realized then that the drops that had been landing on her face was not rain, but was a combination of her loves' blood and tears. Her eyes slowly widened as she fully took in the sight that was before her.

"Naruto-kun?" She weakly spoke out.

Her reply was watching his eyes suddenly show an overwhelming amount of happiness as he grabbed her and hugged her close to him, like a child holding onto a lifeline, his tears and blood dropping onto her neck and getting absorbed by her jacket.

"You're alive! Thank Kami you're alive!" Naruto shouted out, more tears falling as he spoke.

Hinata's mind was in overdrive, trying to figure out what was going on. From what she understood, Naruto was hugging her while crying and dripping blood from his left eye, saying that she was alive in a greatly happy and relieved voice. She also still felt incredibly weak from whatever had happened to her. All in all, she needed to get to the bottom of what was going on.

Her body suddenly getting pushed back a bit as Naruto ended his hug, she heard him say "I'm so glad you're okay, you had everyone worried"

"W-what happened?" she weakly asked.

"Everyone's free, and Madara is dead….the war is over" Naruto softly spoke back, wiping his tear and blood stained face off.

"Free from what?" Hinata asked, confusion plainly written on her face.

Naruto's look took on a somber tone as he spoke, "Madara got as far as casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi on everyone, which grew a giant chakra tree and started capturing people and putting them into separate cocoons, attached to the tree itself. Only Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, Obito, Madara and I were unaffected by it, and we weren't because we were covered by Sasuke's Susanoo."

"A cocoon? That's where everyone else has been?" Hinata questioned.

"Yea…..you've all been asleep for a while. In a dream that the jutsu made apparently"

So that's all that was? Just a dream that the jutsu made for her? She couldn't help but feel angry and sad about that, because of the fact that it wasn't real at all. Yet she also felt gratitude that she was even able to experience her dream at all, even if it was just an illusion.

"H-how long was it? Is that w-why I feel s-so weak right now?" Hinata asked

"….Not really…." Naruto began, "….You've been asleep for a couple days, the longest out of anyone else in Konoha. I didn't know if you'd wake up at all. Any longer and the medics would have declared you in a coma, never to wake up….as for your second question….the dream wasn't the only thing the chakra tree was doing to you all."

"W-what? What else was it doing?"

"….Its job was to keep you all in a dream of what you really wanted in life…..all the while it absorbs your chakra and life force…..until nothing is left of either." Naruto answered gravely.

Hinata's eyes snapped open wide as she processed what he had just spoken, and, for the first time since waking up, she looked down at her arms. From what she could tell her body almost reminded her of a fried up husk. Her entire body was extremely pale, more-so than usual, as well as her looking positively starved to death. She was unhealthily skinny, basically looking like pure skin and bones. The veins all over her body were extremely pronounced on her skin, as well as her face having a sunken in look to it. Her eyes looked dull and bloodshot, and her hair has also lost its color in random spots on her head, those spots now having gray, almost snow white hair, though she could see none of that herself. All in all she thought she looked like one of those corpses you would see in a typical horror movie, like the one Kurenai had had them watch to test their fears for training.

As she took in the sight of herself, her shell-shocked mind finally processed enough for her to do two things.

Those being letting out an ear-shrilling scream, and fainting in a dead heap right afterwards.

_**Xxxxx**_

Later on, after she had awoken again, Naruto had the need to watch over her as she recovered, since she still felt too weak to do anything on her own. He had also filled her in on what had happened while she was asleep in the dream. He told her of the battle with Madara, of the betrayal of Zetsu, the revival of Kaguya, and everything else about meeting the Sage of the Six Paths, as well as the resealing of Kaguya, and that he was the reincarnation of one of the Sage's sons, and he added in the part of him now being the jinchuuriki of a piece of all the tailed beasts.

After another faint, and a lot of questions, Hinata had finally composed herself and accepted, at least mostly, what had happened, even if it seemed absolutely unbelievable. '_A woman who can bend demensions?' _Hinata had thought to herself, _'That's just really far-fetched.' _However she didn't question its legitimacy, because while Naruto had a habit of exaggerating stories, he always at least told the true story, that and his face while he was describing it all was too serious for it to all be a big joke. Naruto just wasn't a good enough liar to pull that off.

He also told her about all of the powers the Sage had given him and Sasuke, and even showed off the seal that resided on his hand. Naruto had asked if she wanted to touch it, and she had agreed, her face dusted red the whole while. His hand felt rough and warm to the touch, and she felt that same feeling of safety and comfort she had before when he had transferred some of his power into her. Her delicate fingers traced the simple seal in his palm, and she felt a calming, yet undeniably strong power emanating from it. To her, it felt as if she was surrounded entirely by nature, and she couldn't help but sigh contently as she held his hand.

They spend the entirety of a few days talking to each other, and at some points their friends would come by to say hello, see how she was doing, and hang out for a little while. She had seen that some of her friends looked like she did, since they had also been in that same chakra tree. She felt overjoyed that she didn't lose any more of her friends or family, and, with a promise to all meet up after everyone was better, it was just her and Naruto alone again.

They would talk late into the night, until Naruto had been kicked out of the hospital due to him going way over visiting hours, and, even then, Naruto would begrudgingly leave, only to return at dawn and do the same as the day before. All sorts of topics flew by as time did, from Hinata's growing health, to even the shocking fact that Naruto was going to take up sealing, in order to honor his father and father-figure Jiraiya. All topics were light hearted, until Hinata had asked about his team. Naruto spoke of how Sakura and Kakashi were, but grew somber whenever Sasuke was mentioned. He said something had happened with Sasuke, and that the result was unknown, only that it had apparently cost Naruto his left eye, a fact that had sent Hinata into hysterics. He said that he could regrow it with the Sage's power, since he had done the same with Kakashi, but had decided not to, as a price for what had happened.

_**Xxxxx**_

Naruto had been waiting for this day, more than he first expected to. Today was the day that Hinata could leave the hospital. Granted she needed a crutch to help her walk, since her legs were still weak. Once she had gotten the okay from Tsunade, Naruto picked her up bridal-style and vanished in a burst of speed.

They arrived on top of the Forth Hokage's head a moment later, and Naruto gently set down a blushing bright red Hinata.

"W-what was that f-for?" Hinata wearily asked, not expecting herself to have been whisked away.

"I wanted to talk to you about something important, something I couldn't mention in the hospital, where our friends could come by at any time." Naruto replied, as he slowly walked over to the cliff side and sat down, hazing down at the village below.

Hinata slowly went to join him, and she sat down beside him, feeling more comfortable around him since he had spent so much time with her recently since she had awoken from the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

"W-what did you want t-to talk about?" Hinata shyly asked, wondering why she had been taken to the Hokage Monument just to talk about something.

"…The last few days got me thinking," Naruto began "….about what I should do now…..So much had happened, and I barely hit seventeen too…"

"Happy Birthday Naruto-kun" Hinata said "I'm sorry I m-missed it, but I wanted to say that to you."

Naruto gave a smile and said, "Thank you Hinata….you're one of the only ones to remember my birthday….and it makes my decision easier too."

"Decision? W-what do you mean?"

Naruto turned to face Hinata, a determined look settled on his face as he spoke. "I thought about everything that's happened to me. Everything from Pein's attack, to back at the academy, to even what happened during the war. I've been hunted for Kurama, lied to by Sakura, I lost Jiraiya, we all lost Neji…so much has happened that I tried to look back at the good times"

Hinata let out a silent tear at the mention of Neji, "I can't imagine the pain you went through Naruto-kun."

"It's not all bad, there were good times as well….more so than I thought of at first. I finally have time to look back at it all and think." Naruto's look turned soft as he continued," A couple of things stood out to me, and as I thought about it more….I came to realize that I had been extremely blind…..I had something good in front of me the entire time, and I was too blind and stubborn to see or even understand it at the time. It was the during Pein's attack, during the war…during the chuunin exam and academy too….I had never seen it, and now….I can't get it out of my head…..So I decided to give you my answer."

Hinata, now blushing a bright tomato red, tried to stammer out a response. "A-a-answer? W-what do you me-mmph!"

Hinata's reply was cut short as Naruto's lips settled themselves onto her own, effectively sending her mind into a meltdown.

Naruto was kissing her, he was actually kissing her! She couldn't believe it, as her eyes took in the image of Naruto's face near hers and his closed eye. She relished in the feeling of his lips on her own. To her, they felt like the softest things she had ever felt, better than anything money or power could ever give someone. It made her heart race and her face heat up to a boiling point. She never wanted it to end, she always wanted to be connected to her love in this way. It was not meant to be however, as Hinata's mind slowly lost itself and succumbed to unconsciousness, one last thought at the forefront of her mind.

_Dreams really do come true_

_**Xxxxx**_

I had a random inspiration to make this one-shot one day, and I decided to finally carry it out since I haven't posted anything in...who knows how long. If this does well and if I can continue to find inspiration I will continue with the rewrite of Ice in the Leaf I started a while ago, since the original story had too many plot holes and was paced too fast for my liking. I do thank you all who have left reviews of my stories saying what you think of them, and I'm sorry I've been gone for such a long time. Hopefully I will continue to write. Once again, I thank you all for reading and reviewing, let me know how this one-shot is.

_Tenshi Namikaze_


End file.
